


Day One: Tannenbaum

by kiraisstillhere



Series: 25 Days of Foxmas (2019) [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 25 Days of Fic, 25 Days of Foxmas, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, M/M, christmas trees, i just think that shopping for christmas trees is a fun holiday tradition, i'm trying to do 25 days of foxmas again but this time for real, some cute andrew/neil to start off the holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21644326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraisstillhere/pseuds/kiraisstillhere
Summary: Andrew and Neil go Christmas tree shopping for the Monsters' dorm(tried to make it 25 days. it did not go 25 days. i have adhd.)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: 25 Days of Foxmas (2019) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560349
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	Day One: Tannenbaum

“Nicky. If you continue to play that stupid song I am going to commit a crime.”

The dorm was warm, despite the frigid air that Andrew was letting in through his open window. He was wrapped in a massive quilt that Renee had given him, allowing for only the hand holding his cigarette and his face to be uncovered by the patchwork. Aaron was gone with Katelyn, leaving Nicky to be holed up in his room and Kevin complaining about the cold from their shared living space, despite being wrapped in a mountain of blankets. The only sound was the click of Kevin’s laptop keyboard as he worked away at a final paper, and the grating cheeriness of Christmas music playing on a loop from Nicky’s room, the hum of the heater thrumming away beneath it all.

Nicky was blasting “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” for what Andrew assumed was the four thousandth time, and he was ready to smash the stereo to pieces without breaking a sweat. He could do it, too - but he figured that he had to play nice, to “keep the holiday spirit”, in his other team members’ words. Andrew did not want to keep with the holiday spirit, and he most certainly did not want to hear it being repeated in seven different styles ten feet away from his smoking spot, but apparently, he didn’t get a say in the matter.

His cousin poked his head out from the doorframe of his room and gave an impish grin. Just as he was about to say something that would have likely gotten a knife impaled in the wood of his door, the unmistakable sound of Allison’s rhythmic knock sounded on the door to their apartment. Kevin’s keyboard stopped clicking, and Andrew could hear the dragging that his mound of blankets made as they dragged across the floor.

Andrew kept smoking out the window, overlooking the parking lot and thinking about all the ways he could dismember the sound system from the inside out.

“Your boyfriend is here,” Kevin announced, rather unceremoniously, across the entire apartment. Nicky’s music abruptly stopped.

“I figured,” Andrew said, stubbing out his cigarette in the tin he used as an ash tray. It held mints at one point, and he found it fitting that menthols were being ashed into the metal. He slid off the window sill and took his sweet time readjusting Renee’s quilt, making a big show of wasting everyone’s time.

Neil was standing outside of the door in the hallway, Allison stood behind him, towering over him in her heeled boots. Her blonde hair framed her face, fashionably tucked under a maroon beanie. Neil was wearing clothes that were obviously new, and definitely not his first choice. How he could still be so dedicated to looking like he was on the run astounded Andrew, but he didn’t say anything other than to make fun of him for it. 

Instead of his (less common now) customary ratty jeans and black hoodie, Neil was wearing black jeans that actually fit him, a black thermal, and a flannel-lined denim jacket that was probably sporting a designer logo on the buttons. It wasn’t cold enough for snow yet, but layers were imperative, and by God, Allison was going to make sure her new best friend looked the best. She must have taken him to the outlets the other day when they’d gone shopping for Christmas gifts, Andrew reasoned with himself.

Allison flipped a curled section of her hair over her shoulder, smiling at Andrew. This was something that had become a lot more common, as opposed to her past looks of disdain and disgust every time he walked by.

“He’s all yours,” she said brightly, flashing a white smile. “Have fun tonight, you two.”

She turned and waltzed down the hall, humming another Christmas song that had been on Nicky’s playlist.

Andrew turned his look to Neil who had a dumbfounded look on his face. “”Have fun tonight”? You planned this?”

Andrew changed his usually bland expression into an unamused one with the raise of one brow. “Was that not clear enough when she took you out without a plan?”

Neil didn’t reply. Arguing over his own unawareness was useless. The fact that he managed to be both the most observant person in the room while also being the most clueless was something that had puzzled Andrew for the past year of their relationship, but he found it almost… endearing, in a way.

Instead, Andrew opted for a sigh and rolling his eyes. “My car. I’ll meet you down there. We have something to do, and I’m not letting your stupidity prolong it.” 

He dug around in his pocket and threw the keys at Neil, smacking them square on his chest.

Minutes later, Andrew walked out of Fox Tower bundled in a thick coat over his regular coat and hoodie, among other layers, anticipating the cold. He approached his car to find Neil curled on the passenger seat of the Maserati with the doors shut, trying to keep warm. He heard the locks release and opened the driver’s door, throwing the extra puffer jacket he’d brought with him at Neil.

“You should have turned the heater on,” he said, buckling in and turning the ignition. He cranked up the heat and turned on the defroster, giving the car a moment to get used to the temperature change.

“Didn’t want to waste the battery,” Neil said, sitting up and pulling the extra layer on.

Andrew noted that Neil needed a haircut. It was usually shaggy and falling into his eyes, but this was getting ridiculous. It stood out at odds and ends in a shapeless mess from his burrowing into the seat, and it was too fine to hold any style other than bedhead if he didn’t brush it out or tie it up. Allison had turned him onto short sides with a long-on-top style, which meant that Neil didn’t cut his hair until it was far too long and Coach threw a fit.

“How kind,” Andrew said, hitting the gas and peeling out of the parking lot, narrowly missing the bed of Matt’s truck.

With Andrew at the wheel, it only took a few minutes to get to their destination, and Neil looked at the big painted sign in confusion. It prompted another sigh and eye roll from Andrew, who got out of the car and made his way over to the passenger side.

“Get out of the car,” Andrew said, opening Neil’s door. “I’m not going to be nice much longer.”

“Chivalry isn’t dead,” Neil muttered, climbing out into the chilly night. He stuffed his hands into the jacket’s pockets and shivered.

Mr. Pine’s Christmas Tree Lot was one that Nicky had taken Andrew and Aaron to every year since he’d had custody of the twins. It was run by a local something or other that helped disadvantaged youth and Nicky adamantly supported them, meaning that they got their tree for the house in Columbia from the organization to help with their funding.

The big wooden sign out front boasted “We Have the Right Tree Fir You!” in bright red letters. A Christmas tree with cartoon eyes smiled proudly next to the words. The sign itself was adorned with white Christmas lights, drawing attention away from the multicolored ones that bordered the fence of the actual tree lot itself.

Andrew started walking, not waiting for Neil to follow. He could freeze on his own time, if he so desired, but Andrew wanted a tree for the dorm. Bee had told him to make this a special night for him and Neil to bond, but his boyfriend could be so infuriating sometimes.

Neil crunched up the gravel next to Andrew, his hood flipped up and face buried in the collar of the jacket. A breeze was starting to pick up, brushing cold against his cheeks, but Andrew stubbornly refused to put his hood up. Around them, high schoolers in bright red aprons were carrying the trees and putting them in their assigned spots, or helping customers find their perfect tree. A girl with a Santa hat was ringing up a family at the front of the lot, and adult volunteers helped trim the trunks to size with chainsaws or rope the trees onto the tops of cars.

Andrew noted that a few students from Palmetto were there, shooting sidelong glances at them, but not saying anything other than how they were from their school to in-awe high schoolers.

“Over there, Neil,” Andrew said, nudging the back of Neil’s boot with his own. He pointed toward one of the back rows of the lot, where the smaller trees were standing proudly, waiting for someone to choose them as their ornament-bearer. The pair made their way from the gravel at the entrance to the softer grass that the trees were set up on, their footsteps muffled by the carpeting of evergreen needles as they made their way to the more dorm room-appropriate sized trees.

Before they knew it, Andrew and Neil had spent an hour analyzing the trees that would actually fit in the shared living room, and the ones that had the potential to be trimmed down to size without too much trouble. They finally settled on one that was in between - it wasn’t exactly the perfect height, but it didn’t have to be trimmed too extensively either. And, as an added bonus, it wasn’t as squat as the other trees, meaning that Kevin and Aaron wouldn’t throw a fit over it possibly blocking their precious video games.

They had passed off the tree to a guy that Neil had recognized from his social science class for trimming, and were standing in line to pay when Andrew felt something brush his hand. He looked up to see Neil looking around the giant trees behind the little shed used for the cash register and tool storage, feigning innocence as to how his hand might have ended up next to Andrew’s. He’d been miserable with the cold, and was clearly trying to get attention.

He thought about saying something to Neil, calling him out on his lack of subtlety or admonishing him for being whiny about the cold, yet leaving his hand out to freeze on its own, but he didn’t. Neil was persistent, in his own way, and Andrew was trying to work on making their relationship more physical.

Andrew carefully took Neil’s hand in his own, and squeezed to let him know it was a yes.

**Author's Note:**

> follow my aftg blog @alvarezforthegame to see me reblog stuff and sometimes post headcanons!


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